apples of gold in settings of silver

Somehow, over the course of a weekend when I was supposed to read 3 chapters from my biological psychology textbook (movement, memory and planning), I somehow managed to watch not one but two movies, one on a borrowed DVD from a friend, Princess Mononoke, and one at the cinemas with Steph and Maryam (too lazy to come up with aliases, and their initials would be too.. disturbing), V for Vendetta.

 

Interestingly, both films centered on the theme of revenge and all the implications and repercussions associated with it. Briefly, Princess Mononoke, far from being a happy adventure of a pretty anime princess in a fantasy land, is a violent, beautiful tale set in a primeval Japan where forests are temples inhabited and cared for by pagan animal gods. Set in the warlord era, humans are pitted against humans, pitted against the trees and animals and spirits of the forest. I won't go too much into plot details, but suffice to say that this 'cartoon', by genius Hayao Miyazaki, is one of the most complicated depictions of hate, revenge and violence that I have ever seen or read, and conversely the most subtle advocate of peace. The film's tragic, noble protagonist, the young Prince Ashitaka goes on a quest to lift a curse he incurred while saving his town from a boar-demon, but in the process discovers that the evil inflicted on him is a result of a result of something else, a choking spiral of wrongs, spite, misdeeds and revenge that can seem to find no resolution. The film works as a strong metaphor for the encroachment, rape and defilement humans have inflicted on earth, but really you can relate to it in many ways. Ambition, power, deception, greed, courage, spite, tragedy, all grand Shakespearan themes, handled ably and never hamhandedly by wood sprites, a good looking anime prince and princess, and talking boars and apes. It is a truly remarkable film in that every one is trying to do the best they can, and you can empathize with so many of the characters, even when their work and actions wreak harm on others. Can balance ever be found on this earth if each individual organism can only ever seek fulfilment and utility for himself? At the climax, the feeling is one of bittersweet peace mingled with uncertainty - a possible third alternative is glimpsed, but it's so difficult.

 

V for Vendetta, what can I say about it? It's a testimony to the strength of the story conceived by Alan Moore that the movie manages to engage, entertain, horrify and inspire, despite so many changes from the graphic novel. A friend commented though that V, the ambiguously noble, erudite and destructive avenger of the movie's title, might not see much visible support in Singapore - hardly anyone would heed his call to stand in front of the Parliament builidng if he announces he wishes to blow it up. Parody and exaggeration might be a literary device in highlighting to the viewers the danger of surrendering liberties and freedom of choice to a government in exchange for security, power,  and protection, but it's precisely the suffocatingly totalitarian, violent and deceptive nature of the party, contrasted with the tactics of V's strategic terrorism, which stoke the people into nonviolent but total revolt. In modern society, power, influence and restrictions come more subtly intertwined with rewards, prosperity and moral superiority. I'll leave you to think about it.